House of the Rising Sun
by The Starkiller
Summary: Girls versus boys; an age old game with no clear winner. When American girl band The Black Suns' single is knocked off of the charts by the charming British band The Beatles, they are infuriated. As they tour together, the girls are out to prove themselves and treat the boys as their enemies, and the confused Beatles don't know what they've done wrong. A battle of the bands ensues.
1. Chapter 1

_This is a new story by the Paperback Writers that is posted on my account this time. It was created by the lovely individuals Lennonfan1940 (to give credit where it's due, it was her brain child), Shortyblackwell, NatashaPavlova, and myself, of course ;). This first chapter was written by yours truly. We sincerely hope you enjoy it! _

****WARNING! SEVERELY UNEDITED! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!****

American girl band The Black Suns were cooped up in their hotel room in New York between gigs. They were on their first tour since getting a number one hit with their song "You're Mine", and they couldn't have been more ecstatic. It was their first step of many in the band's journey to conquering the radio. That night, it was snowing outside, preventing the girls from following their usual clubbing routine. Rosemarie Delrose (who commonly went by Marie), the band's leader and rhythm guitarist, was standing by the window, watching the snowflakes flutter to the ground and contemplating the future of her band. Out of all of her fellow band members, Rosie was the one who knew the best that one number one hit did not mean instant success. Drummer Maura Kingsley sat on the hotel room's couch and watched the TV, which was on but she wasn't fully paying attention to. She and Marie were carrying on a casual conversation about their friends at home, who were coming up to New York in a couple of days to see The Black Suns play. The band's bassist, Rose Beckett, was sitting sideways in one of the armchairs, an acoustic guitar in her lap that she was absentmindedly strumming. She occasionally scribbled down notes in a well loved notebook before returning to her strumming. Lastly, their lead guitarist, Toddy Ambra, was sitting at the dining room table, playing solitaire with a deck of cards. She wasn't much of a people person and generally kept to herself unless she was included in a conversation or if she had started it.

Maura stopped speaking to Rosie and turned to Rose. "Hey, Beckett," she said, peering over at the bassist's notebook, "whatcha doing over there? You're awfully quiet."

"Yeah," Marie agreed with Maura. "I would have thought that you would have been more excited about Daniel coming to visit." She waggled her eyebrows at Rose, who stuck her tongue out at her. The band found fun in finding new and creative ways to tease Rose about her friend Danny, who they all thought she should be in a romantic relationship with.

"For the last time, Danny and I are friends, and that's it," Rose said defensively. "And to answer your question, Maura, I'm trying to write a song." Even though all of the band tried their hands at songwriting, Rose Beckett engaged in the activity most frequently. Though she easily wrote the most songs out of any of her band mates, only three had made their last album, something which secretly disappointed Rose.

"Didn't you hear, Beckett?" Toddy wisecracked as she lost her game of solitaire. She piled up the cards and began to shuffle them. "We have a number one hit, so you don't have to try so hard with your writing now." Maura and Rose both laughed.

Marie turned around and glared at the three of them. "That's a terrible mentality to have, Toddy," she admonished the guitarist. "One number one doesn't mean instant success. You have to maintain the standard of your music and stay on the charts to succeed in the music business, which is doubly hard for a girl band. We need every song we can get." She turned to address Rose. "It sounds great so far, Other Me." Jokes usually flew between the two about their having similar names.

Rose pointed at her with her index finger and joked, "Hey, it was my name first, Delrose. But regarding the song, thanks."

Toddy sighed and returned to playing solitaire. "I try to make one little joke, and we get admonished by Delrose the dictator. It's like being in elementary school again." Since Marie was so obviously the leader of the band, her other band mates often jokingly referred to Marie as "the dictator", something that Marie hated.

"How many times have I told you guys to not call me 'the dictator'?" Marie asked exasperatedly.

"You better watch yourself, Toddy," Rose joked, "the dictator might get angry and start a civil war." Marie shot Rose the evil eyes, and Rose immediately returned to composing the melody of her new song.

The band heard the door of their hotel room open, and in walked their manager, Michael Collier.

"Have you heard the news?" Michael asked.

"No, what is it?" Maura replied.

"Some British band called The Beatles knocked 'You're Mine' from number one to number six," he informed them as he took a seat next to Maura on the couch.

"What?" Marie said disbelievingly. "What's their number one called? And how in the name of God did they manage to knock us from one to six?"

"It's called 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'," Michael answered. "They've got songs filling up the first five spots on the charts, which pushes The Black Suns to six."

"Impossible," Rose breathed, setting her guitar down.

"It's never been done before," Michael agreed.

"Not even Elvis has done it," Maura said in awe. "I always thought that if Elvis hadn't done it, it probably wasn't meant to be done."

All eyes were on Marie. The band had never been in a situation similar to the one they were in then. When the band was in times of trouble, they looked to Marie, their leader, who always seemed to know what to do, even if her solutions were rather spontaneous and often slapdash. But for once, Marie was at a loss. She tried not to take too many things personally in her life, but The Black Suns was her pride and joy-no, scratch that, it was her baby. The song had a four week stay at number one, and then some British boy band that she had never heard of suddenly waltzed in and knocked the song that the band had so lovingly crafted to number six. _Number six._ It was like getting a blue ribbon instead of the shiny trophy. It was devastating.

"Have you heard it, Mike?" Marie asked as she sat in the armchair adjacent to the couch. Toddy soon joined Maura and Michael on the couch.

Michael shook his head and said, "No, I haven't yet, but I'm sure if you turned on any of the pop stations, you'd be bound to hear it after a while."

"Well, I'll do just that, then," Marie said, briefly disappearing into the bedroom that she shared with Toddy to retrieve her portable radio. She turned it on and placed it on the coffee table upon returning to the common area. Maura immediately got up and turned the television off. The first song they heard wasn't "I Want to Hold Your Hand", however, but it was their own former number one hit, "You're Mine". Though it was usually always fun to hear their own songs on the radio, this time it brought a melancholy feeling instead. It seemed that their own happy harmonies and bright, jangly chords were taunting them. _You thought that you were hot stuff with this song at number one, huh? Well, you're not. You're just another can of peas, easily replaced by any other band who waltzes in. Move along, sweethearts._ After two minutes of torture spent listening to their song, the DJ announced the next song.

"That was The Black Suns with their hit 'You're Mine', which was at the top of the charts for four weeks before being replaced by British band The Beatles, who are currently making history by having five songs taking up the first five spots on the charts, pushing 'You're Mine' to number six. With their number one hit, here's The Beatles with 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'."

During the two minutes and thirty seconds that song was playing, hardly a word was uttered. All five people were completely focused on the song, with the band members trying to dissect the song with their ears and figure out what made it so superior to their song. Once the final chord was played, Marie turned off the radio, and they all sat in relative silence.

"It's kind of catchy, I'll give it that," Maura said.

"It was rather repetitive though, wasn't it?" Rose commented.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Toddy commented.

"They must be attractive, then," Rose said wryly. "That's the only other explanation for the success. Teenage girls sure love their attractive pop idols." The other girls grinned and laughed.

"Girls," Michael said. "There's also something else I should tell you. Please don't get angry. I made this deal before all of this number one madness happened."

"Just tell us, Mike," Marie told him.

"The Beatles are coming to do a tour of the US, and The Black Suns are going to travel with them and be their opening act," Michael told them. The girls simply stared at him disbelievingly.

"Tell me you're kidding, Mikey," Toddy said, though her voice gave away that she knew that their manager was being truthful.

"I'm afraid not, Toddy," Michael said as he developed a sudden interest in his hands before glancing at his watch. "They'll be in New York in three weeks, and we'll play a couple of shows here before moving on. Listen, I've got to go, I'm expecting a call at 6 from their manager, Brian Epstein, so we can discuss more details. I'll see you later." The girls bid their manager goodbye, and Michael got up and left the band's hotel room.

"You have got to be kidding me," Rose said as she shook her head.

Marie sighed and replied, "Don't I wish."

"Who names their band after a bug?" Toddy remarked, which received smiles from her band mates.

"I can't believe it," Maura said. "All of that hard work, all of the blood, sweat, and tears, just to be so easily replaced by some British band."

"I need a cigarette," Rose said, getting up from her armchair.

"I thought you had decided to quit smoking," Maura reminded Rose, who was digging in the pocket of her jacket for her pack of cigarettes and a book of matches, which hung on one of the chairs that surrounded the dining table.

"I changed my mind," Rose replied dryly, sticking a cigarette in her mouth and walking out onto the room's attached deck before lighting it. The other band members heard the sliding glass door slam shut behind Rose.

Maura looked to Marie. "What are we going to do, Delrose?"

For once, Marie didn't know, but she couldn't let her band mates know that. They looked to her for answers, and she couldn't let them down. "We're going to have to step up our game when we perform before them," Marie said. "We're going to have to be better, louder, the whole nine yards. We have to blow The Beatles right out of the water on their own tour."

And from then on, that's exactly what The Black Suns aimed to do.


	2. Chapter 2

_Here's the second chapter of "House of the Rising Sun"! It was written by Lennonfan1940, who did a fantastic job, in my opinion. Make sure to leave us your thoughts in the reviews! Criticism is much appreciated. _

_PS, I went back and re-edited the first chapter. There aren't many major changes, but there are some, if you want to read it again. _

_We hope you enjoy this chapter! :)_

_(See page 34a, The Future of Teen Pop con.)_

_The girl band that briefly surprised the nation with a number one hit has been replaced as rapidly as it rose. The girls, all college-skipping youngster are among one of the first girl bands in American history to make a number one hit, and one of the only all girl 'rock n' roll' bands ever. Critics of the girls hold it as proof that girl bands, even among rock loving teens, are unable to compete with male competition._

_The sensational pop-combo that took the girla' hit single, "You're Mine" (no relation to the teenage Richie Valens who died in 1959) was surprisingly a British boy band, from a port city by the name in of Liverpool. The Beatles, as they call themselves, consist of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and the girl's favorite, Ringo Starr. The four cheery, fine youngsters dominated there home country of England, and Europe within a year, and came here expecting the same and got it. Thousands of screaming female fans awaited the boys at a Idlewild Airport this Friday, February 7th in hopes of meeting the band of their dreams, in a phenomenon untouched by any pop group in history._

_In the Beatles' interview at the airport, reporters found them to be witty, harmless creatures, seemingly innocent and full of youth, and less harmful than more preposterous and vulgar acts currently hitting the teenage music world, such as Elvis Presley. Their new British sound is a softer rock n' roll that most adults find far more suitable for their growing youngsters. We all hope that this more, carefree and soft trend of music continues, displacing raunchy rock n' roll acts._

_Today however, as we wait to see the lads on their first American televised event, it was announced that the Beatles will be touring with a opening act, none other than the young, scandalous ladies of the Black Suns, whose previous and brief popularity allow them to catch the eye of the Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who reported that he was happy to make a deal with the girl's manager Michael Collier, who say both groups are excitedly awaiting touring together._

_Adults and their teenagers alike are uneasy about this agreement. One fan, Beatrice Talso(15) told reporters "It's just dreadful, those girl's getting the Beatles all to themselves. It's unfair and just awful!"._

_Parents share Talso's concerns. Winston Quin, a father of two teenage girls is worried that the Black Suns are a bad influence on his girls, ages thirteen and sixteen. "When those girls came out I clearly stated their music was banned from the house. Four young girls traveling all alone and making loud vulgar music is one of the failures of this generation. My wife and I our now happy to say we're Beatles fans ourselves, and the girls are happy that they are now allowed to listen to their favorite pop stations again. But if those four obscured girls are going to be traveling with handsome, single British lads, something's bound to happen, and it greatly concerns my whole family. In a world like ours, it is saddening to see it getting harder and harder to find wholesome pop groups. They got the girls, and I suppose now they'll get the British."_

_The girls themselves were very-_

"Eh, what's that you've got there, Georgie boy?"

George Harrison, the youngest member of the band the Beatles and the band's guitarist, looked up at the band's unofficial leader, John Lennon, who'd just snatched the morning paper out of his hands.

"Hey! I was reading that," he protested, though it was only halfhearted. He and his band were eating breakfast, and he wasn't really a morning person. He also hadn't been feeling well since the band had first came to America.

"Well 'uppose you aren't anymore then, son," John laughed, scanning the paper for anything about their band. "Yuck, can you believe this bloke who wrote this? He must be a hundred and fifty. Goddamn-"

"Ooo, is that the article about us?" Paul McCartney, the band's bassist and co-leader, wasn't fully dressed, as he insisted on fully dressing before he came to breakfast, but he poked his head in the tiny sitting area were his fellow band mates were. He loved to read anything written about him or the band as Paul loved feedback and knowing what others, especially the media, thought about him.

"Why else would I be reading? And why are you laggin' about in your panties Paul? If you're asking if that tie matches them I'd have to tell you no," John told his friend. George laughed and Paul rolled his eyes. "Go wake up the Legend of Sleepy Hollow back there and I'll read it all to you children," John added.

"I can read, John, and we aren't children," George observed, picking up a orange from the tiny table, which was filled with everything you could ever want for breakfast.

"To me you are," John grinned, throwing himself on top of George. "Oh my sweet lil' Georgie wogie, thinking he's a big kiddie now," John cooed jokingly.

George laughed. "'ey, getoff!" The two wrestled playfully with each other while Paul shook his head trying not to laugh.

"Oh why do I always have to wake Ringo up? He's disgustin' in the mornin'," Paul scoffed. "Smells like a fish."

"Well that's unkind Paul, George smells quiet nice," a low voice mumbled. Paul turned and George and John stopped messing around.

"Whoa, Ringo, you got up all by yourself," John greeted the band's oldest member (age wise) and drummer, Ringo Starr.

"Well, of course, I'm not a lil' tyke," Ringo chuckled, taking a seat at the table.

"You goin' to put some trousers on, Paul, or are we goin' to this rehearsal with you in your knickers?"

"Look, I'll put something on in a minute. I still don't know what I'm going to wear," Paul stated.

"He's choosy you know," George added.

"You're worst than a bird, Macca. Takes you ages to get your hair perfect, your makeup right, your outfit prefect. But your gage-ous love!" John told his band mate, saying the last part in a high pitched failed attempt at a New Yorker accent.

The four all laughed.

"Alright, now that I got you lot of pansies all together, it's time I read you this news article," John waited until everyone stopped laughing and made himself clear. He wasn't completely serious, it wasn't often he was. But he was interested in the article and kept most of his jokes and witty side comments to himself. He was surprised to find the article focused on comparing his band to some American girl band he never heard of. 'Must be real shite,' he thought to himself. American music was really going down the toilet before his band came along and perhaps saved rock n' roll for forever. He felt proud.

"Wait, who are the Black Suns?" Ringo wondered aloud as John read it.

"Beats me," shrugged Paul. "Must not have been anything too important, as I never heard of them. Any of you 'eard of 'em?"

The four all shook their heads.

"It says they're a girl rock band. A _rock band,_" George explained, thinking back to the article he'd originally been reading.

"Yeah, so?" John shrugged.

"How many chick groups play rock? How many play music? How many do you know of who do anything other than vocals? None. Zero. It's pretty strange," George told them patiently.

"You gotta point George, I've never heard of a gal who was even into rock that much," Ringo agreed.

"Yeah they are probably really different then. Or just like any other crap girl group and the reporter's just clueless," Paul suggested.

"Yeah, Paul's right, if they really were a rock band like us, we'd know them," John decided. George shook his head.

"I don't think so guys. They don't play the same stuff in England as they do here, we know that. And plus we've been so busy we haven't actually listened to music much lately," George pressed. He for one was sort of impressed with these girls. They probably had to go through a lot of crap, seeing how the press treated them.

"Read on, John, see if it says more about 'em." Ringo had finished eating (he was a rather picky lad and didn't usually eat much), but he wanted to stick around to hear more about this girl group.

John, who really didn't care about the other group, muttered, "Fine," and continued reading, scanning for any negative remarks about his band. There weren't any, and he felt himself calm down. John didn't care much about what others thought about them, but he had worked very hard on his and his band's reputation and he didn't want to see it soiled. In fact, he was totally off guard when he came to the sentence that made him stop and re-read it to himself as well as cause the other three Beatles to gasp.

_"Today, however, as we wait to see the lads on their first American televised event, it was announced that the Beatles will be touring with a opening act, none other than the young, scandalous ladies of the Black Suns, whose previous and brief popularity allowed them to catch the eye of the Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who reported that he was happy to make a deal with the girls' manager Michael Collier, who say both groups are excitedly awaiting touring together."_

John read it again, his mind running wild. Their manager had made a deal to allow some grotty little unpopular chick group to become a opening act. John wasn't mad, he was furious. First, no one had told him, or anyone about this, and he wouldn't have known anything about it if he can't read the paper that George had asked Mal to go out and buy this morning. Secondly, money had to have had a lot to do with this. That's the only way Brian, the Beatles' manager, would have allowed someone with such bad publicity be associated with their band. Thirdly, it was going to lose The Beatles fans, most likely, according to the interviewed fans. But then again, these were girls. Road girls. Girls you could always hit up if you needed too. John liked the idea of the slutty, giggly girl group the paper seemed to paint gawking over him. He liked it a lot.

"Wow, so I guess we'll find out what sort of band they are then. That settles that," Ringo figured.

"I can't believe Eppy did that without us. Gee, I guess we're touring with girls, then. Wonder if they're pretty girls," Paul said, getting up and walking to John.

"Yeah, can we at least see if they're pretty? I mean, traveling around with a bunch of pretty lasses sure does sound good right now," George added, leaning over John to the paper himself. He leaned just a little too far and ended up accidentally pouring most of his glass of orange juice on both the paper and John.

"Watch it George-oh look you've ruined it, and now I'm sticky!" John yelled.

"Well it was my paper anyways!" George grabbed the paper in a vain attempt to read more about their mysterious, possibly attractive, opening act. But the rest of the paper, including the part with a photo of the Black Suns, was ruined.

"It said the 'scandalous ladies'," John winked. "I can't say I'm happy about Eppy arranging things without us, but hey I like the sound of that. Whelp, I'm off to wash lads." John walked out, in high spirits. He was looking forward to meeting these 'bad girls'.

"I wonder what makes them scandalous, that's a big word for kinky, right? Maybe they wear short shorts or something while they perform? Or maybe they perform shirtless, or even nude!" He knew that was far fetched, but George's mind had flew off with him.

"Horny little Harrison," joked Ringo. "I'll bet they're hideous, just your luck, you little womanizer. Besides, they're a band of girls, not strippers or beatniks, or even Germans. They probably have some values." George was known to be the ladies man of the group. While fans thought him to be shy and coy, in reality he did get around. But never had he been in a serious relationship with a woman, and George himself thought that getting close to a girl or two in the other band might have its perks.

"Well, I can hope, can't I?" George smiled.

"You dirty swine you," Ringo scoffed, ruffing up his friends perfectly flipped mop top.

"So what? They'll still throw themselves at us!" Paul grinned. "I'll betcha they can't wait to meet us!"

_(Future of Teen Pop con.)_

_The girls themselves were very short and witty with reporters when interviewed, earning them quite a bit of criticism and controversy. The band's leader, Rosemarie Delrose (far right) is one of the most notorious of the quad, replying very shortly when asked about schooling and marriage, stating that she didn't "give a damn about either, and probably will never do either.". Concerns about her cover of the Lesley Gore song, "You Don't Own Me", have sparked rumors that Delrose may even be a homosexual, though this has been almost confirmed to be a rumor._

_The band's bassist, Rose Beckett (bottom left), appeared to be equally fresh. When asked about the inspiration of a very popular love ballad (one of the only Beckett penned songs on the group's album), she replied, "Oh, just a dick, a real dick that I used to know quiet well." This was a remark which gave the band some of its first critics and banning on some southern radio stations._

_The band's carefree lead guitarist, Toddy Ambra (bottom right), a seeming contender of the North Eastern Italian group trend that has recently died down in the teenage music world (see article 9:2 What to Do about Dion) has also faced criticism over her very loud guitar playing, which is very Buddy Holly-esque and distasteful to many concerned parents and teens alike, finding it to be unladylike. Ambra simply claims that Holly is on of her biggest idols and she'd be honored to be like "him in any way. Seriously, you guys think I'm that good?"_

_The parent and fan favorite of the group is their least controversial member, Maura Kingsley. She is the youngest member of the group and has managed to charm and work her way into the hearts of many fans. Kingsley is a very intelligent and sweet young lady. She has excelled in school her whole life and seemed to be very content with herself. She was the only girl out of the other three who seemed to be very in touch and happy about her very wholesome family. Even those from her hometown fondly remember her, and many Black Suns fans have taken to dressing and styling there hair like Kingsley, who has had nothing but kind things to say about the publicity. She has also reported never drinking or smoking, which has redeemed the band to many._

_Meanwhile some other more fitting girl groups are as follows-_

Rosemarie, or Marie, as she was sometimes called, crumpled up the newspaper and tossed it into her spitting cup, while spitting some of her chewing tobacco on it. She was pretty unhappy about the bad publicity the band was still getting, simply for being girls and playing rock n' roll instead of doo wop central. She was also very stressed about how popular these Beatles had been getting. It seemed like every teenage girl in New York had ran down to meet and greet this stupid British boy band. As a result, she hadn't slept much in days and and taken to old bad habits. She had gone out on the balcony of the hotel room so that the other girls wouldn't see her spitting, as they hated that.

"Delrose, we're leaving in two hours aren't you going to-Marie!"

Marie turned just in time to see Toddy walk out to the balcony. "What?" Marie mumbled, knowing she had been caught red handed.

"Stop that, it's filthy, and you'll stain your teeth," Toddy remarked, crossing her arms and looking down at Marie with a look she knew far too well, like a mother looking at her guilty toddler.

"I know, Ambra, you and the others must've said that a million times. Who's the dictator now?" Marie smiled, but she couldn't shake her unhappy look.

"It's still you, but you know better Delrose. Beckett and Kingsley aren't going to be too happy either. Anyway, what's got you down? Wanda's coming tonight, so's Eddie, Ruth, Scotty and the gang. It'll be fun! Plus, Rose's lover boy Danny called like six times to make sure were all still meeting up." Toddy giggled a bit on the last part and Marie couldn't help but laugh.

When Marie finished laughing, she answered, "Well, Toddy, we've made the paper again. All rubbish, still saying I'm a lesbian, you're an Elvis like crooner, Rose is loose, and Maura is the angel child. Miss Perfect always manages that, doesn't she?"

"Hey, who you callin' perfect?! Look, I just used incorrect grammar!" Maura hollered, walking out onto the balcony in a robe, clearly just out of the shower and soaking wet.

"Oh my God, Kingsley's talking in slang! The world must be ending!" Marie grinned as Toddy and Maura cracked up.

"I can't help it that the paper loves me, I mean, what's not to love?" Maura added, smiling sweetly.

"Only everything," joked Toddy. "Hey, is Beckett still talking to herself in the mirror?"

Rose, who had been practicing reading out lines of songs and trying to get them to flow, stopped what she was doing and walked to the open window, which looked out on the balcony. It might have been February, but the weather was already sort of warm.

"Hey, I heard that!" Rose called out to her fellow band mates.

Marie, Toddy and Maura all shared looks. They knew that Rose was trying to write a song for Danny and thought the whole scenario to be hilarious. Danny was a shared friend of the group after Rose had introduced them all, and it was hard to think of anyone liking him.

"So how's Danny's song coming?" Maura teased, winking at Rose, who scowled.

"For the last time, you little sissies, this isn't for Danny. Songs aren't personal."

"Yours are," Marie remarked in a serious tone. She knew there was always something deeper to Rose's songs, but deeper didn't always sell well, so Marie usually made sure that she got in Toddy and Maura's more soft and lighthearted numbers first.

"Hold on you guys, I'm coming out!" Rose called, suddenly not much in the mood for songwriting. She put her well loved notebook down on her side of the room, since Maura was real big about everything being in its correct place, and walked out onto the small balcony.

"Ew! Delrose you're spitting again?!" Rose called when she almost knocked over the small paper cup Marie had been spitting her chewing tobacco into. Despite their disgust with Marie's tobacco habit, Rose entertained her own tobacco habit, placing a cigarette in her mouth and lighting it.

Maura, who hadn't noticed this, also frowned. "Oh, come on, Marie, we've been over this. Hand over the can," Maura demanded firmly. "My God, you're worse than a baseball player," she added.

"Oh, alright then! Fine! Here!" Marie handed the almost empty can of tobacco to Maura. She took it and handed it to Toddy, who did her normal routine of stomping on it until it was almost flat.

"I spent fifty cents on that, you know," Marie muttered.

"You want to have teeth, right?" Rose smirked, grabbing the flattened can and tossing it off the balcony.

"Yeah Marie, we're only trying to help you. Here, have a cigarette." Toddy held out a pack and Maura rolled her eyes.

"That's just as bad you know, you're all going to end up dead in fifty years, I can show you that article-"

"Oh Maura come one, lighten up a little, she's only stressed," Rose cut in with a sigh. "And she has a right to be, these Beatles have even started there own thing called a mania. There's never been anything like it before. Danny told me that even back home people are buying up Beatles records as quick as they come in, in fact there are lines to buy them-while our stuff just sits." It had been something Rose and Marie had been discussing for weeks now, and Rose could tell her band mate was really stressed out.

"Oh come on, it'll be fine. Everyone's just going crazy 'cause their new. Trust me, in a month everyone will be over them, in fifty years they'll be forgotten. Now we on the other hand, we're the first of our sex to ever even come close to doing what were doing and I say that we go out tonight and celebrate!" Toddy found herself saying. She was tired of everyone being all down in the dumps because of four English boys. Big deal. She strongly believes that the Black Suns would come before the Beatles in any history book.

"Ambra's right, what good is it getting all worked up over someone else getting to the top? It's not like they'll be famous for forever," Maura agreed with her long time friend Toddy, the two were like minded and more positive than the older girls.

"You've got a point, maybe I should stop worrying," Marie found herself saying as she got up from the wicker chair she'd been sitting on.

"Really, Marie, they're right, I mean look, you haven't showered or slept for days," Rose added quietly.

"Yeah, you aren't planning on going out in your nightgown, are you?" Maura laughed, moving out of the way as Marie headed inside.

"I dunno, are you planning on wearing that lovely robe? What do you call it? I think we should start a trend," Marie smiled as the girls walked back inside there hotel room.

"How about the 'I don't give a damn' collection?" Maura suggested, playing along.

"Sounds like a keeper," Marie called, walking into the hotel's bathroom to get ready.

Toddy added to the joke by saying in a very long, drawn out, commercial like voice, "And now, introducing the most trendiest and highest fashion, a collection made by the beautiful, members of the Black Suns, the I Don't Give a Damn collection, complete with smelly clothes, and ratty hair. You can be the trendiest girl at school for only ten dollars a piece (think seventy dollars)!"

"Remind us not to let you have anymore caffeine," Rose laughed, picking up her journal again and sitting down on the hotel's sofa.

"Hey!" Toddy smiled.

"Gee Rose I don't know, I think Danny might find you attractive in the 'I Don't Give a Damn' collection. Especially the swimwear," Maura giggled.

"What do you fools not get about the phrase 'just friends'?"

"How it possibly applies to you and Danny," Toddy spoke up.

"I give up," Rose sighed, jotting some lines down.

"We are going swimming tonight, right?" Toddy asked.

"I dunno, ask Dictator Delrose," Rose suggested, shrugging.

"I'm not a dictator!" Marie called from the shower. "And of course, it's the closest things to jumping in the ocean back home!" Back in Rockport, Massachusetts, the hometown of Marie, Maura, and Toddy, the Black Sun's and there friends often when out swimming at a small beach out of town that hardly anyone else knew about. It was almost tradition to go swimming whenever the friends all got together.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Maura offered, but Rose had picked it up before anyone else had a chance to react.

"That's fine, I got it," Rose told the other girls as she answered the phone. "Danny, I told you, we can eat wherever. Anywhere's cool with me- oh Mike it's you. Sorry. Yeah, this is Rose. No, she's in the shower. Uh huh. Okay, I'll tell her to call you back." Rose's face fell as she put down the phone.

"What is it?" Maura and Toddy asked in unison.

"Mike wants Delrose to call him back ASAP, something about a new songwriter," Rose replied half heartdly.

"Wait- what? A new songwriter? I thought our songs were good." Toddy slumped down on one of the sitting chairs. "What gives?"

"I dunno, but it's probably not good." Rose answered, trying to choke back tears. Michael had always disliked her songs, saying they just weren't what sells, and now it seemed as if he'd replaced her.

Maura caught her band mate's reaction and up a firm arm around Rose. "Don't worry Beckett. Nobody writes the Black Suns' songs but the Black Suns, and there's no way any one of us will let that change."

"Yeah! Mike can try all he wants, we write our own songs and that's that!" Toddy agreed. "What's a professional song writer anyway? A old man who gets paid for rhyming all day?"

Rose laughed. "Thanks guys. You're right."

"Got that right, didn't we just say we weren't going to worry tonight?" Toddy asked.

"Yep, no more worrying." Rose smiled wearily and walked to her room. "Guys, I'm going to go change, I'll be right out." She called.

Once she was safe inside her room, she let her tears pour silently. Because as much as she'd love to believe Toddy and Maura and not have to worry, she couldn't, because she knew something they didn't. Because she knew that they were all powerless to whatever Mike wanted. It was in their contract. It was something she had warned Marie about before and it was something she hated.

And now it was something that was going to kick her out of the band she loved.


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: For whatever reason, this chapter didn't post the first time, so my sincerest apologies! Here it is now though! The fabulous Beatle fanfic guru NatashaPavlova wrote it for your enjoyment!_

_Adults and their teenagers alike are uneasy about this agreement. One fan, Beatrice Talso (15) told reporters, "It's just dreadful, those girl's getting the Beatles all to themselves. It's unfair and just awful!"... Concerns about her cover of the Lesley Gore song, "You Don't Own Me" have sparked rumors that Delrose may even be a homosexual...Rose Beckett appeared to be equally fresh, when asked about the inspiration of a very popular love ballad she replied, "Oh just a dick, a real dick I used to know quiet well," a remark which earned the band some of its first critics and banning on some southern radio stations...Toddy Ambra, a seeming contender of the North Eastern Italian group trend that has recently died down in the teenage music world, has also faced criticism over her very loud guitar playing, which is very Holly-que, and distasteful to many concerned parents and teens alike, finding it to be unladylike...many Black Sun fans have taken to dressing and styling their hair like Kingsley...When those girl's came out I clearly stated their music was banned from the house. Four young girls traveling all alone and making loud vulgar music is one of the failures of this generation..._

Maura gave up on trying to forget the awful fan magazine. She'd been pacing the length of the floor for ten minutes with those lines running through her head. How terrible! How deceptive and inaccurate! These newspeople took everything they'd said and twisted their words around. Sure, they were a group of girls going around the country, but Maura didn't think their music was any different from anyone else's those days. 'Was it just because they were a girl band? That couldn't be it,' Maura thought to herself, shaking her head, 'There are lots of girl bands. None of them play rock music though...'

Maura felt a sigh coming on. It was louder than she expected and Toddy popped up next to her with a giffy look.

"What's your issue, Kingsley?" she barked near her ear. Maura jumped nearly ten feet in the air and turned around to face Toddy.

"Nothing," she lied, then asked, "Has Rose come out of her room yet?" Maura glanced at Rose's closed bedroom door, knowing the answer already.

"Nope," Toddy said popping the 'p' before she climbed over the back of the sofa and flopped onto the pillows.

"You think she's OK?" Maura asked, wincing at her own question. She was fully aware of Michael disliking for Rose's writing style. Toddy shrugged and she picked up the awful fan mag off the coffee table. Maura wondered how she could even look at it.

"She said she was," Toddy said distractedly, then added, "God this thing is rubbish," referring to the magazine. Maura almost laughed at her as she walked around the couch. Almost.

"But that doesn't mean anything," Maura said rolling her eyes as she sat down. "She was upset. I could tell."

"Well I don't have your super powers, Maura," Toddy mumbled, turning the page in the magazine. Maura groaned and snatched the mag from Toddy.

"Will you please listen with I'm talking to you?" she snapped. Toddy raised an eyebrow at her and Maura felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "Sorry..." Maura put the magazine on the table face up.

"Hey, who's that?" Toddy asked, reaching for the magazine again. Maura nearly stopped her, but she saw the faces too, and became curious as well.

"I dunno..." she said, then commented, "They are funny looking." Toddy chuckled and scrunched up her nose.

"Yeah, but in the best way possible," Toddy said, "Look the caption..."

Maura groaned, "Ugh, it's the Beatles." She rolled her eyes and Toddy threw the magazine away from her.

"Ow!" Marie said, scowling, as she entered the room, "Look, I know the magazine is a piece of garbage, but you don't have to maim me." Maura did smile at that.

"Sorry, but the bugs were in there," Toddy sneered. She got up and moved the magazine to the middle of the room using her thumb and index finger. She then let it hit the floor again and jumped and stomped all over it until it was just scraps of paper all over the floor. Marie and Maura shared a look before Toddy collapsed on the couch again. "That's better."

"Remember what Rose said about caffeine earlier?" Marie asked, sitting down on the couch next to the two girls.

"Yeah?" Maura asked, frowning slightly.

"We need to cut her off...forever..." Marie said. Toddy scowled and slapped her arm before stomping comically out of the room. "Speaking of Beckett, where is she?" Maura felt all of the deceiving and awful words of the article flush back into her mind.

"She's in her room." Maura managed to squeak, "Did you ever call Michael back?" She wanted the subjected changed, but nothing else would come out of her mouth.

"Oh, right," Marie said, looking over to the phone sitting on the table. "I should do that now..." She looked at the phone as if it was about to float over to her. Maura watched her stare down the phone until she groaned and flopped back into the couch pillows and moaned, "I don't want to speak to him."

"Who?" Maura asked, losing the conversation momentarily.

"Michael," Marie grumbled, "I'm still mad at him for signing us up to tour with _those_ boys." Maura rolled her eyes and got up. She grabbed the phone and tossed it on the couch next to Marie.

"Call him," she said grabbing her coat. "Maybe he has changed his mind about the tour."

Marie snarled at the phone and noticed Maura walking toward the door. "Where are you going, Kingsley?" she asked, standing up.

Maura opened the door and turned back to Marie and told her, "I'm going for a think." She said before she left, shutting the door behind her.

Maura didn't understand really what was so bad about all this. Yes, this band, _the Beatles_, had knocked them out of the top spot, but so what? They were a group of somewhat attractive British boys, who could serenade any girl they wanted to with their guitars. Going on tour with them wasn't what bothered Maura. It might actually help get their music out there.

No, Maura was worried about what those magazines said about them. The only part of the article that was close to the truth in Maura's opinion were the things they said about her. But Maura didn't want to be seen as the fan-favorite. She was never favorite anything, except for favorite little sister, and that's just because she had six older brothers, making her the _only_ little sister.

_"Maura the angel child. Miss Perfect always manages that doesn't she?"_

Maura shook her head. That was what Marie had called her. Maura did have that image, and she liked behaving, and following the rules, coloring inside the lines so to speak, but she hated when people, including her friends, said things that that. None of them seemed to understand the pressure she was put under being the only girl in her family. She had to get good grades, and she had to behave, otherwise it was just too much to handle with her parents running around looking after her brothers and trying to pay the bills. She was that way because she didn't like causing the trouble her brothers did. Maura released a new sigh and she closed her eyes as she walked down the New York sidewalk.

Maura was pretty sure the public view on her wasn't as terrible as the others because she only answered the questions directed specifically to her. And even then they never got her name right. They always called her 'Laura' or 'Miss King'. She had nothing bad to say about the public because she was never asked about them.

Suddenly, Maura was knocked onto the ground. She groaned and someone helped her up.

"Gosh, sorry!" A girl helped her up. "I didn't mean to knock ya down." Maura smiled politely and dusted herself off.

"That's alright, I wasn't watching where I was going," she said, looking at her slightly scrapped elbow.

"Oh, well I'm Bree," the girl introduced herself, sweeping her brown bangs off her forehead.

"Hi," Maura responded. "I'm sorry about running into you like that."

"That's alright," Bree waved her off and laughed. "I was caught up with a new tune in my head."

"Oh?" Maura asked raising an eyebrow. Bree nodded and Maura readjusted the sleeve of her jacket, which had fallen off her shoulder when she fell. "Are you a songwriter?" Bree's eyes lit up and she grinned.

"Yep, goin' to see my uncle right now. He said he got a job for me!" she said happily. Maura scrunched up her nose at the grammar this girl possessed.

"That's great," Maura said, pretending she didn't notice. It was a curse to notice how everyone talked really. "Well good luck anyway." Bree smiled and put her hand to her head suddenly.

"Oh, wait do you know where I will find the Tiger Lily Hotel?" Maura nearly gasped.

"Um, yeah, I'm staying there actually," Maura said politely. "I should be getting back anyway." Bree nodded and the two girls walked back to the hotel together. Maura hoped she was the songwriter they were all dreading, but she kept a conversation going anyway. Bree mentioned how she grew up with a little brother, and Maura felt her heart ache randomly for her brothers. She barely heard anything Bree said after that because she was thinking about her own brothers. She wanted to see them, but she was sure that all six of them wouldn't be able to make the trip together. She hoped to see at least one of them tonight, but she wasn't sure.

"Oh, here we are!" Bree said cheerily. Maura nodded and she quickly parted from the songwriter. She had to get away from her before the fact that Bree was their new songwriter made itself evident. She didn't want it to happen. She made it to the room before Bree, and Maura hoped she wouldn't show up.

"There you are," Marie said. "I thought you'd never get here. Michael is coming up with the songwriter any second." Maura nodded and took off her jacket. She joined her band on the couch and waited. Waiting was not her best talent.

Finally, Michael came in, and to Maura's disappointment, Bree was with him. "Alright, girls, let me introduce my niece to you," he said, smiling cheerily. The smile faded when he saw all the girls' expressions, and his face took on a more serious arrangement that matched that of his band. "This is Bridget Coles. I've hired her on as your new songwriter."

"But we write our own songs," Marie said seriously. She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. The other three girls did the same and Michael's eyes rolled.

"Yes, and you can continue doing so. Bree is just here to help out!" Michael said persuasively.

"We don't need help," Rose said crossly.

"Yes you do," Michael reiterated to them adamantly, visibly beginning to lose his patience with their reluctance to appease him.

"We got to number one, didn't we?" Toddy asked rolling her eyes.

"You didn't stay!" Bree said. All the girls looked at her and glared. Bree backed up and cleared her throat as she looked over each other the girls in the band. She recognized Maura suddenly, "You could a' told me you were apart of the group!"

"I didn't want to." Maura cringed. Her friends all turned to her and she scoffed, "What? She asked where the hotel was!"

They went back to scolding Michael, but he wasn't having any of it. "Look, Bree is going to help you, and that's the end of it." He left them alone with his niece and she stepped forward with a smile.

"So, who wants to get started?" she asked. Toddy just walked outside to the balcony without another word. Rose and Marie shared a glance before they both shuffled toward Rose's room.

"Me and Rose have to go and finished getting ready for-"

"For our friends' visit!" Rose finished, and Marie walked into Rose's room and shut the door.

"Rose and I!" Maura yelled at them, mostly to punish Marie for leaving her alone with Bree and an awkward situation.

"OK, just you and I then," Bree said, walking up to the remaining band member.

"Me," Maura sighed flopping onto the couch, "It's you and me." Bree laughed and sat down next to her. "Besides there's no point. I don't write many songs. I usually just leave that to Marie and Rose. That's their thing."

"You could change that, you know." Bree smiled and Maura shook her head. She was thankful that someone knocked on the door, so Maura didn't have to respond.

"Excuse me..." She got up and answered the door before she was engulfed in four strong arms. Maura squeaked before she pulled herself free. She looked at the two who'd grabbed her and grinned. Derek and Will, number 5 and 6 in the line of older brothers, were grinning back at her. "Derek! Willie!" She wrapped her arms around her brother again and they laughed at her.

"How are you, little sister?" Derek asked. Maura scrunched her brow and shrugged.

"Alright, you?"

"We're just dandy," Will said smiling, "But we picked up a few hitch hikers along the way, we hope you don't mind." Suddenly four other people busted through the door.

Eddie, Ruth, Scotty, and Danny all surrounded Maura in hugs and hellos. She laughed and gave each of them hugs. "So great to see you all!" Maura said smiling wider than she had all day. "Let me go get the other girls!" Maura led them to sit down before she started to bang on Rose's bedroom door. "Oi! Get out here, the gang's here!" Rose poked her head out and looked passed Maura as if she didn't believe her. She opened the door the rest of the way and ran straight to Danny. Her arms wrapped around him and he laughed and hugged her back. Marie followed and hugged Wanda first. They were closer than the rest were. Marie was even closer to Wanda than she was to the rest of the band. Maura figured that was what started the nasty rumors about Marie's sexuality. Maura went to the balcony and peeked her head out.

"Hey, Tod, the gang's here." She said smiling. Toddy quickly followed her back to the group and she hugged Scotty and Eddie, who joined 'the gang' because she'd known them in Rockport growing up.

Ruth suddenly jumped on Maura and Maura laughed at her. "I've missed you!" Ruth was Maura's _only_ girl friend. They'd been best friends since they were in diapers.

"I've missed you too, Ruthie!" Maura giggled.

Suddenly poor, forgotten Bree stood up. "Should I go?" she asked, more addressing Maura than the rest since they were more acquainted than the others. Marie shook her head and smiled.

"Nah, we were going to the park to hang out, you should come," Marie said, her arm slung around Wanda's neck.

"Really?" Bree said smiling. Marie smiled and shrugged.

"Sure, the more the merrier! Besides, even though we don't need ya, doesn't mean we can't get to know ya!" Marie said as she grabbed her jacket. Bree nodded and they all filed out of the hotel room. Toddy with Scotty and Eddie, Rose with Danny, Marie with Wanda, and Maura trailing behind with her arms around Ruth and Derek's shoulders while Will walked a little bit ahead of them.

* * *

The flash of the cameras were almost blinding by now. The Beatles had had their photos taken more times in the last two days than they had ever had taken in their lives. John just wanted a break and he was sure Paul and Ringo agreed.

"Alright, lets go to a new location now," someone said. All the photographers agreed and as they all started to walk away, John grabbed Paul and Ringo by the arms.

"Let's get outta here," he said, pulling them, "before I go blind." Paul smirked as he and Ringo followed him quickly in the opposite direction.

"You're already blind, Johnny boy," Paul said as they took shelter behind a tree and some bushes.

"Don't be cheeky!" John said, making a silly face. Paul laughed and Ringo rolled his eyes. "Lucky George. He gets to stay in bed while a pretty bird looks out for him."

Ringo's eyes rolled again. "He's sick, John, and it's his sister," he said trying not to laugh. John did laugh a little before he and Paul grabbed Ringo and drug him onward. "Where we goin' fellas?" he asked, trying not to trip over his own two feet.

John and Paul shrugged and suddenly stopped. "Look at them!" Paul gawked. The three Beatles stared at the group of kids running around. The sun was starting to go down and it was getting colder out, only these kids were taking off their jackets and were a bit shiny with sweat. Paul hadn't been looking at the girls running around in blue jeans that looked almost too tight.

"Let's go talk to 'em." Ringo said confidently. He walked out from their hiding spots and walked into the group. They went almost unnoticed until Ringo ran right into a short girl with curly brown hair. She stumbled, but Ringo managed to catch her. "Sorry!" he apologized quickly. The girl smiled at him.

"No problem!" she said, then introduced herself. "I'm Toddy!"

"I'm Richie!" Ringo replied. He didn't really know why he'd chosen to say Richie over Ringo, but Toddy didn't seem to hear him anyway.

"Hey Toddy, come and settle a bet!" a loud guy yelled over to Toddy. She waved to Ringo before she ran over.

"Richie?" John asked raising an eyebrow at him. Ringo shoved him before walking on. "Wow, look at that..." John pointed to a girl standing talking to a tall guy. She had her dark hair cut short, as was her height.

"Down John," Paul joked, snickering as another girl sauntered by. Paul thoroughly checked her out and John laughed.

"Down Paul," he said as he mimicked Paul's voice and Paul slapped him on the arm.

"Did you see that bird?" Paul asked excitedly. He looked behind him at her as she spoke with some other girl. This girl had shaggy dark hair and she wasn't short like the others, but she still was shorter than Paul. She looked kinda geeky to John, but Paul had a different taste in girls sometimes.

"Can I help you?" A totally different girl walked up with her friend. This girl was around the same height as the last, but her hair was longer and a bit lighter in color.

"Oh sorry, we didn't mean to crash your party!" Ringo said quickly.

"No, no, it's just a park..." she said. "Uh, I'm Maura." She held out her hand. Ringo took it and nodded.

"Richie," he said again, just to be accurate. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, I'm Ruth," she said waving. "Who're your mates then?" Ringo was surprised by the question. Everyone knew them. Ringo looked at John and Paul and he realized it was hard to see their faces since the sun had gone down.

"This is John and Paul," he said. They nodded and smiled a bit.

"Well nice to meet ya!" Maura said, "Um, that's Marie over there talking to Wanda, and over there is Rose and Danny, over with Toddy are Eddie and Scotty, and over there are Will and Derek over there doing stupid stuff by the trees." Maura laughed at the boys before she turned back to Ringo.

"Nice to know!" Paul said before he walked off toward the two called Marie and Wanda. John rolled his eyes and walked toward Danny and Rose, leaving Ringo standing in front of Maura.

"You thirsty?" Ruth asked him suddenly. He shrugged and grabbed his hand, pulling him in the direction Toddy was standing with Eddie and Scotty. Scotty was downing a Coke while Eddie watched, poking and tickling him, obviously trying to interfere.

"Hey, Richie here is thirsty, is there anything left?" Ruth asked letting go of Ringo's hand.

"Not anything good," Eddie replied, scrunching his nose.

"Yeah, Grease Monkey drank it all," Toddy said jerking her thumb in Scotty's direction.

"Nothin'?" Ruth asked. Eddie handed her a bottle of Coke and Ruth passed it to Ringo, "Here ya go Richie!" Ringo nodded and took the drink from her.

"Thanks!" Ringo took a drink of the Coke. A conversation started and Ringo was having a nice, fun time until John walked up.

"We should get back before Eppy finds out we're having fun," he said scrunching up his nose. "Come help me snag Paulie away." Ringo sighed and he went with John over to where Paul was talking to Maura and the two other boys. Somehow he'd moved from the girl who'd caught his eye to Maura.

"C'mon Paulie." Ringo said grabbing his arm, "Dad said we had to go." Ringo nudged John's arm and he glared at him.

"Oh, alright, nice to meet you," Paul said, waving. He smiled at Maura and she waved back.

"Bye," she responded. The boys around her waved as well as the three boys walked off. They had to walk back to their hotel, but luckily the streets weren't too crowded.

After they reached their hotel and they were safe in their rooms, they went to bed. Sure, they would have liked to stay a bit longer in the park, but they were all exhausted. George was in bed asleep when Ringo walked into the room they were sharing. Even though it was dark, George looked like he was feeling better.

Ringo got into bed and fell right to sleep, glad to have a break for a little bit. The girls there weren't all that bad looking either, and he wondered sleepily if he'd ever see them again. All thoughts quickly left his mind, and Ringo was snoring in less than ten minutes.


	4. Chapter 4

p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;"Toddy woke up with her head pounding. She thought back to the night before. All she could remember was the sound of everyone shouting "chug" and the sound of fizz. Suddenly the room brightened, and she covered her head./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Come on now," Maura said, ripping the blankets off of Toddy, "You've slept long enough, and we've got to meet the Beatles today!" Toddy curled up into a ball and groaned./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Those guys can wait! Sleep can't!" she whined. Maura sighed and grabbed one of Toddy's legs. She pulled her off of the bed in one swift motion. Toddy landed with a thump. She walked out of the room to let Toddy get ready for the day. Toddy got up and made a face, then groaned. As she walked, she pulled her mop of hair out of her face. Toddy opened the cabinet for a towel, and sighed. She started walking out to the main room./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""WHERE ARE ALL MY TOWE-" Toddy paused when she saw the towel fort. She groaned, and took one off the top. It was empty. She groaned and took as many as she could back into her room. She closed the door, and took a quick shower. Once she was out, she was got dressed. She wasn't ever really a dressy person, but liked to impress people, so she got out a knee length, floral dress. It was sleeveless and slightly tight. She put it on, and let her hair dry on its own. She walked out of the room and noticed everyone leaving./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Toddy," Eddie said, holding out a hand. Toddy completely disregarded his hand and jumped up to hug him. He was quite a bit taller than her. Scotty came over, and scoffed./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""What? I don't get any hugs?" he asked. "FINE!" Toddy chuckled, and gave him a hug./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""I wish you didn't have to go!" Toddy exclaimed./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Well, the garage won't run itself!" Eddie said, chuckling, "and besides, you guys are gonna be really busy on tour! YOu won't have any time for us." Toddy nodded./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""But we have a lot to catch up on," Scotty said, putting a hand on her head. She scowled at him, and sighed./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;""Alright fine! But I'll see you guys after the tour, right?" she asked. They all agreed and parted ways. After all their friends left, the girls continued to finish getting ready./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Have you guys seen my boots?!" Toddy called through the suite. There was no reply. She then and there decided on tennis shoes. The girls walked out of their rooms, and everyone saw what the other was wearing. They all sighed, and started commenting or giving tips, except Toddy. She didn't know anything about fashion./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""What's with the shoes?" Maura asked. Toddy sighed./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""I couldn't find my boots," she mumbled. Maura nodded, and stood next to her as Bree stepped out of the bathroom./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Hi guys, Toddy, right?" she asked. Toddy nodded./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Toddy, why don't you tell Bree about that song you wrote?" Maura suggested. Toddy just scoffed and walked to the table. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Could I get one?" Rose asked. Toddy jumped. She handed the box to her. "Thanks." Rose smiled and put the cigarette to her lips./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""What do you think about that Bree character?" she asked Toddy./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""I don't really trust her. What if we let her help and she takes all the credit for herself?" Toddy asked, "We emalready/em don't have the press's trust! The last thing we need is the reputation of being a bunch of hacks."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""I feel like if we take the risk to trust her, we'll fail drastically." She took a drag from her cigarette. Toddy sighed and watched as Maura and Bree talked in the corner. Delrose was about to walk over when Michael walked in./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Alright ladies, are you ready to meet your fellow tour mates?" he asked. They all groaned in unison except Bree, who squealed. "I'll take that as a kinda!" He said optimistically. They groaned again and walked over to the door. The group went out to the staircase and down to the lobby. /span"There's a car waiting for you," Michael said, walking them to the door. "All of you," he reiterated when Bree just stood there. She had to go with them. They all got in the car, and went down the road./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""I still can't believe you're wearing tennis shoes," Maura said, shaking her head at her bandmate./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Really?! Why are you wearing those?!" Delrose asked./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""'Cause," Toddy started, "I couldn't find my boots, I just wish you guys would get over it! We're just going to be sitting at a table!"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""So?! What if someone sees you?" Maura asked./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""They don't even match your dress!" Bree jumped in. Toddy glared./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""I don't give a damn!" Toddy said definitively./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Well, fine then!" Maura grumbled./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""I wonder what the Beatles are like!" Bree said thoughtfully./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Probably jerks," Toddy mumbled, pulling out her deck of cards. She shuffled them nervously./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""No, I think they'll be charming!" Bree replied, her eyes taking on a faraway look, obviously starstruck as she daydreamed. Toddy rolled her eyes and went back to her sad, worn out cards. The rest of the ride was silent, but the closer they got to their destination the louder the screams got. They looked out their windows and saw all the fans the boys had gathered./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""WOAH! We never got this much applause!" Rose stated, her face pressed up against the glass of the window like a kid at a candy shop. "These guys must be huge!" The girls were taken to the front of the hotel and walked inside by buff men./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;"'They must be bodyguards so they don't tear us limb from limb!' Toddy thought. She chuckled. As they went up the stairs they found Michael already waiting./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""How'd you get here?" Delrose asked./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Doesn't matter," he told her matter-of-factly "All that matters now is that the boys are waiting for you!" He practically pushed them down the hall. "Here's the room, I'll be in the next one over with Brian!" He smiled. "Go on!" He opened the door for them. The four boys froze where they were. The five girls stared at the four boys until finally one of them smirked and walked over./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""You lot look familiar," he said, then introduced himself, "I'm John." He held out his hand to Delrose. She shook it, and took it upon herself to introduce them all./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Toddy is in the tennis shoes, Maura's the perfect one, Bree is the excited one, and Rose is the other one. You can call me Delrose," she said, not taking her eyes off of John's. John smirked and nodded. He let the girls in. Toddy wandered over to the nearest ashtray and pulled out a cigarette. She heard someone, who introduced himself as Paul, talking about how familiar they all looked to him./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Did you all happen to be at one of our concerts?" he asked, trying to think of where he saw them./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Nope," Delrose answered. Those were all the answers she gave./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Ever been to jail?" Maura asked./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""No..." he said, then muttered, "Well, at least not recently." /span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Good, neither have I." She smiled smugly. Paul sighed./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Oh well! I guess it doesn't really matter!" He sat down. Toddy chuckled at them. She sighed and leaned against the wall. Her cigarette was hanging out of her mouth as she fiddled with her cards once more./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Hey, how good are you with those?" one of the boys asked. He had a slightly large nose and intense blue eyes./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Pretty darn good," Toddy said, "What about you?" /span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Not too good, I'm afraid," he replied, then told her, "I'm Ringo." She felt she had heard his voice before./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Toddy," she said in reply. He shook her hand./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""So, Toddy," he started, "You thirsty, hungry, anything? They've sent up so much food we'd never eat it all in our /spanlives, so you and your friends are welcome to whatever you want." He smiled. Toddy thanked him./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Thanks, but I'm kinda hungover, and not in the least bit hungry," she told him./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Hungover?" he asked, chuckling./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Yes," she said, aggravated, "Too much sugar." She walked away./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Hey, I'm sorry," he said, following her, "I didn't mean to offend you."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;""I'm just not a people person, I guess," she sighed. He grinned./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Oh, that's alright, I won't hate ya for it!" He said./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Thanks, I was worried," she retorted sarcastically. Toddy looked around to see where everyone was. Bree was over in the corner freaking out, Maura was nervously tapping her foot to an imaginary beat, Delrose was doing what looked like having a staring contest with John, and Rose was eating an apple. She looked to see what the boys were doing as well. Ringo was looking around like Toddy was, Paul was frowning at John and Delrose's game, and the other one looked as though he was nodding off in the corner./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""OK!" Toddy clapped her hands together loudly. Everyone jumped at the sudden sound. "I say we all get out of this hotel and have some fun! What do you say?" She asked./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""I'm game!" Maura said. Everyone else agreed, and grabbed their coats./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""We'll have to climb out a window or something," Paul said, walking to a window that led to a back alley. He looked around and saw a fire escape. They all walked over. "Ladies first," he said, helping them out./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 11px;"span style="max-height: 999999px;""Always the ladies man!" John mumbled under his breath. They all laughed as they headed out to actually do something./span/p 


End file.
